Extinguishing an automobile engine fire can be a very difficult and nerve-wracking task. Difficult because the fire may be burning under the closed and latched hood of the vehicle so spraying water or other fire retardant on the surface of the vehicle is ineffective to douse the flames. Nerve-wracking because of the financial loss and the possibility of imminent explosion if the burning is allowed to continue. Moreover, such fires often occur because of engine overheating while the vehicle is being driven on a busy thoroughfare, such as a freeway. The motorist is forced to pull over to the side of the highway in a dangerous location, is usually helpless to extinguish the fire, and must nervously await the arrival of the fire truck.
Upon arrival at the scene, the fire personnel must first gain access to the area under the hood before the fire can be controlled. Since the hood is usually down and latched, the fire makes manually releasing the latch very difficult and perhaps impossible. In the past, therefore, the firefighter has used an ax to chop an opening in the hood through which the nozzle of a fire hose can then be inserted and retardant released. This multi-step operation naturally delays the end objective of spaying fire retardant on the blaze, further exposing the firefighter and others to danger and allowing the fire to continue its damage.
Certain of the above described problems are experienced in fighting fires in inaccessible areas other than under the hood of a vehicle. Some of these problems exist when fires occur within the passenger compartment of a locked vehicle or a locked trunk; in a locked mobile home or truck trailer; in an aircraft; and even more commonly in a building where a fire is burning between walls of the building. Several patents disclose equipment for smothering a fire in such inaccessible areas. However, none of the known devices is sufficiently compact, portable and self-contained to make it ideal for extinguishing a serious but small fire burning in an automobile engine under the closed hood of the vehicle.
A portable apparatus and method for dispensing fire retardant or other materials into relatively inaccessible areas are provided. The apparatus and method are particularly suited for releasing an extinguishing agent on a fire that is burning under the hood of a vehicle or behind a wall or other barrier separating the fire from the firefighter or for dispensing other materials into other inaccessible areas. The apparatus includes a tank and a nozzle rigidly attached to the tank. The attachment may be either separable by securing the nozzle to a jacket that fits around the tank, or integral by welding the nozzle to the tank. The tank, which conveniently may be the tank of a standard portable fire extinguisher that contains a fluent fire retardant, or another tank containing another fluent material, and has an outlet through which the material can be dispensed. The nozzle extends from the tank and provides a penetrating end, a fluid-conducting passageway having an outlet opening through the penetrating end, and an inlet connected to the outlet of the tank. In use to extinguish a fire, the nozzle is manually thrust through the sheet metal of the vehicle""s hood, or other barrier, using the weight of the tank to penetrate the barrier with the nozzle and to place its outlet in the region of the fire, or other inaccessible area, whereupon a valve on the tank is opened to release fire retardant onto the fire or to dispense the other material into the area.
An object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus for dispensing fire retardant and other materials in relatively inaccessible areas.
Another object is provide a method and apparatus for extinguishing automobile fires.
A further object is to lessen the physical dangers and loss of property associated with fighting a vehicle fire.
An additional object is to provide a compact, portable and self-contained apparatus for fighting an engine fire burning under the closed hood of a vehicle.
Yet another object is to provide a method and apparatus that allows conventional portable fire-fighting equipment to be used to extinguish a serious but relatively small fire behind a barrier.
A still further object is to provide an apparatus that adapts a conventional portable fire extinguisher tank so that the tank can be used to assist in thrusting a retardant-emitting nozzle through a barrier behind which a fire is burning so that retardant may be sprayed onto the fire.
Yet an additional object is to provide a method and apparatus for extinguishing fires in relatively inaccessible areas that allows a conventional, portable, fire extinguisher to be quickly adapted for penetrating barriers, such as a vehicle hood, behind which a fire, such as an engine fire, is burning, but allows the fire extinguisher to be otherwise used in the usual manner for other types of fires.
A further object is to provide a holder for a conventional fire extinguisher that facilitates use of the extinguisher in many fire-fighting tasks.
Another object is to dispense fire retardant or other materials behind or underneath a barrier with a portable dispenser that can punch a hole in the barrier and simultaneously insert a dispensing nozzle on the opposite side of the barrier from the user.
A feature of the present invention is a fluid-conducting, barrier-penetrating nozzle attached to a fire extinguisher tank.
These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent upon reference to the following description, accompanying drawings, and appended claims.
FIG. 1 is an isometric side elevation of one embodiment of a fire extinguishing apparatus in accordance with the principals of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a somewhat enlarged, isometric side elevation of the fire extinguishing apparatus of FIG. 1 looking at the apparatus from a position at the left of FIG. 1.
FIG. 3 is a side elevation of the fire extinguishing apparatus of FIGS. 1 and 2 at the scale of FIG. 1 but looking at the apparatus from a position at the right of FIG. 1 or the left of FIG. 2.
FIG. 4 is a side elevation of the fire extinguishing apparatus of FIGS. 1-3 looking at the apparatus from a position at the left of FIG. 3.
7FIG. 5 is a somewhat enlarged, top plan view of the apparatus shown in FIGS. 1-4, as viewed when looking down on the apparatus from a position at the right of FIG. 3 or the front of FIG. 4.
FIG. 6 is a somewhat reduced, bottom plan view of the embodiment of the apparatus shown in FIGS. 1-5.
FIG. 7 is somewhat reduced, isometric computer-generated wire-frame view of the holder including the jacket, handles and penetrating nozzle of the apparatus shown in FIGS. 1-6 without the fire extinguishing tank fitted within the jacket, and since it is a wire-frame drawing showing interior features of the holder although such features would be normally hidden from view.
FIG. 8 is a side elevation of the holder as viewed from the right side of FIG. 7 and as viewed from the same angle as FIG. 3 although on a scale reduced from FIG. 3.
FIG. 9 is a computer-generated wire-frame view of a side elevation of the holder as viewed from the right of FIG. 8 and shown as transparent to see internal details.
FIG. 10 is a side elevation on a reduced scale of another embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention, showing internal features in dashed lines.
FIG. 11 is an enlarged side elevation of a variation of the embodiment of FIG. 10.
FIG. 12 is a side elevation of an automobile schematically indicating the existence of a fire burning under the closed hood of the vehicle and showing the fire extinguishing apparatus of the first embodiment of the present invention resting on the hood with the penetrating nozzle projected through the hood and spraying fire extinguishing material into the area of the fire.